Election day is fast approaching and I'm sure most of us are reading through policies and trying to decide who will best promote our rights and needs in order to make our voting decision.
I have made it my mission to continue on my chosen path regardless of which man ends up running this country, purely because I know that what we, the Early Years workforce, are doing is the ultimate career in terms of enabling a better society for the future. Yes, I'm against creating robots and people who will just do as they are told - but I am totally for children growing up to be happy, accepted/accepting and positive about the society they live in.
So, to this end, I am continuing my studies as I believe there is always more to learn. This week marks the final assignment of my BA in Early Years, an exam in June, then come September I shall be embarking on an adventure which is Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) at Brighton University.
The past ten years have taught me so many things. Working on my own as a childminder showed me the challenges of being alone and wholly responsible for children's wellbeing. Working as part of the large team at Reflections Nursery was a truly enlightening experience, and opened my eyes to the reality of how tricky a balancing act it can be to provide exceptional educational experiences alongside exceptional care (and the organisation of it all!). Now part of a smaller team providing preschool care and education in a church based setting, I can see the challenges of needing to pack away every day and share the space with other groups. All of these experiences have given me a wealth of information which I can now use to clarify my own ethos, bring my thoughts together and prove that I can be a good teacher for Early Years children.
So when I qualify, what next? Where will the government benchmarks be by the end of the next academic year? All I know is that children will always be children, and I will always want the best for them. Therefore, whoever wins this election, I shall stand firm and continue to champion children. Because their voices need to continue being heard.
Friday, 24 April 2015
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Researching children's thoughts and perspectives - the Mosaic Approach
I'm on to my first research project for E210, the final year of the Early Years Foundation Degree with the Open University. The study is certainly a lot harder than previous years and I have to admit to struggling to fit it all in around a long and busy working week as well as being Mum too! But it is, as ever, very interesting and I look forward to learning more as I go along, building on that bank of knowledge and using it to make positive changes to the way I do things. But despite being interested and excited to learn, I have to ensure I'm not thinking about it all too much as the last thing the children need is for me to be constantly thinking while I should be engaging with them (and I am guilty of being a deep thinker!) Finding a healthy balance is what's needed!
This module is all about the Mosaic Approach (see here... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Listening-Young-Children-Mosaic-Approach/dp/1900990628). It is a way of listening to children by using a variety of methods, for example letting children take photographs of things which interest them, taking them on a tour of the setting to see what they want to show you, talking with them (child conferencing) and looking through photos together to see how they respond. It's a way of gaining a deeper understanding of children's perspectives and consequently being able to make changes to improve the experiences children have.
How do you implement changes to your own personal practice or to the setting policies/procedures/layout? Do you think, oh I don't like that, let's change it? Or do you think, oh the children don't like that, let's change it? Personally I will readily admit to resorting to the former on many occasions, particularly when I was childminding. I would decide that maybe because it was winter now I would take down the current display and put up wintery things on the board instead. In most cases this would probably be okay, but what if the children really liked the previous display? What if they didn't make any comments at all about the wintery one? It is this which the Mosaic Approach intends to transform. Find out from children what their thoughts are, and make changes according to their perspectives. And this isn't just an approach to fix problems, as one might think to use it. It's for a positive impact for all children, regardless of whether a problem is apparent or not.
Another point I would need to make is that we all have our own preconceived ideas and when researching children's thoughts, these ideas and values need to be suppressed as we take on board what the children are telling us and view it as objectively as possible. Subjectivity is unavoidable but we can at least try to put our own thoughts to one side and REALLY listen to the children. And also listen to each other, because colleagues can be very helpful at enabling us to see things from another perspective. Ask your colleagues what they see you do, what they think you're good at, what they think you could improve on. Constructive feedback can be difficult to swallow but if you really listen to what is being said and understand why it was necessary feedback, it's a lesson learnt and your practice should improve.
Having said all this, I have to point out that I am not an expert, I am merely studying early childhood and learning how to support children through this crucially important stage of their lives. I have got a long way to go and I'm aware that there is always something new to learn.
This module is all about the Mosaic Approach (see here... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Listening-Young-Children-Mosaic-Approach/dp/1900990628). It is a way of listening to children by using a variety of methods, for example letting children take photographs of things which interest them, taking them on a tour of the setting to see what they want to show you, talking with them (child conferencing) and looking through photos together to see how they respond. It's a way of gaining a deeper understanding of children's perspectives and consequently being able to make changes to improve the experiences children have.
How do you implement changes to your own personal practice or to the setting policies/procedures/layout? Do you think, oh I don't like that, let's change it? Or do you think, oh the children don't like that, let's change it? Personally I will readily admit to resorting to the former on many occasions, particularly when I was childminding. I would decide that maybe because it was winter now I would take down the current display and put up wintery things on the board instead. In most cases this would probably be okay, but what if the children really liked the previous display? What if they didn't make any comments at all about the wintery one? It is this which the Mosaic Approach intends to transform. Find out from children what their thoughts are, and make changes according to their perspectives. And this isn't just an approach to fix problems, as one might think to use it. It's for a positive impact for all children, regardless of whether a problem is apparent or not.
Another point I would need to make is that we all have our own preconceived ideas and when researching children's thoughts, these ideas and values need to be suppressed as we take on board what the children are telling us and view it as objectively as possible. Subjectivity is unavoidable but we can at least try to put our own thoughts to one side and REALLY listen to the children. And also listen to each other, because colleagues can be very helpful at enabling us to see things from another perspective. Ask your colleagues what they see you do, what they think you're good at, what they think you could improve on. Constructive feedback can be difficult to swallow but if you really listen to what is being said and understand why it was necessary feedback, it's a lesson learnt and your practice should improve.
Having said all this, I have to point out that I am not an expert, I am merely studying early childhood and learning how to support children through this crucially important stage of their lives. I have got a long way to go and I'm aware that there is always something new to learn.
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